Dental floss-holder.



Patented Dec. I8, 1906.

I alwemtoz William C, Coryeu,

W. C. CUBYELL. DENTAL FLUSS HOLDER.

(Appllcahon filed Feb 21 1900 1 No. 664,0l4.

(No Modem Wu-Mm U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM C. GORYELL, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO J. SHERMAN OORYELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DENTAL FLOSS-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,014, dated December 18, 1900.

Application filed February 21, 1900. Serial No. 6,103. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. OoR-YELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Youngstown, in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dental Floss-Holders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of devices known as dental floss-holders, used for stretching a section of dental floss in proper position to be manipulated for the purpose of cleansing between the teeth.

The object of the invention is to provide an extremely simple, cheap, effective, and durable device of this class; and with this object in View my invention consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and afterward set forth specifically in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an end elevation on an enlarged scale, showing the floss applied to the holder in position for use, a small portion of the figure being in section. Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the head of the holder, 011 the same scale as Fig. 3, with the floss engaged in the holder and the handle or main body broken away. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form, the body or handle being broken away. Fig. 6 is a perspective viewillustrating a slightly-modified form of my holder.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts in all the figures.

The improved dental floss-holder embodied in my invention is preferably constructed of a single piece of sheet metal stamped up or otherwise manipulated to form a main body or handle A, the forward end of the metal being bent upward at substantially a right angle to the main body A to form a head comprising a narrow upright flange B, with two end extensions or arms 0 in the same vertical plane with said flange. At the upper ends of the arms 0 are formed lugs Ct, which are bent back upon and parallel with the arms 0, the upper'edges of said lugs being flush with the upper edges of said extensions or arms, thus forming notches or grooves a between the arms and lugs, facing outward and terminating at the upper extremities of the arms and lugs.

In Figs. 1 to 4 I have illustrated the lugsct as formed on the inner edges of the arms 0 and-bent outward or away from the handle or body A before being bent back to a position of parallelism with the arms, while in Fig. 5'the same lugs are bent inward or toward the handle A and then parallel with the arms 0, the object in each instance being simply to provide the notches a, extending vertically, with their upper ends at or flush with the upper ends or surfaces of the arms. This same end is attained in the construction shown in Fig. 6 by turningthelugs down from the ends of the arms.

In Figs. l'to 4 I have shown the handle or body A as provided with longitudinal edge flanges d d,cn rved downwardly and inwardly, and this may be considered the preferable form; but the handle may be made plain and flat, as shown in Fig. 6, in which case it might be utilized for other purposes-such for instance, as for a paper-cutter. From the construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 it will also be seen that the flange B of the head is not absolutely essential, the same being omitted in these figures.

Z) indicates the dental floss, which may be secured in any suitable manneras, for instance, by wrapping at b, as shown in Fig. 3, from which point the floss is carried upward in one of the notches a, passing the upper extremities of the arm, thence across the open space between the arms 0 to and above the upper extremity of the other arm, thence downward in the other notch a, and finally along the body A. The floss may be carried under the body or handle A, between its flanges d d, as in Figs. 1 and 3, or may be wrapped around the body or handle, as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 6, or other means may be provided for securing its free end, if desired.

It will be observed that the portion of the floss stretched across the open space between the arms is located entirelyabove or beyond the outer end surfaces of the arms. The location of the notches a in order to accomplish this result, is a very important feature of my invention, the advantages accruing therefrom being hereinafter set forth.

In the operation of my invention, assuming the floss to have been stretched upon the holder in the manner heretofore described, the handle may be grasped in one hand and the free end of the floss held in the other hand or otherwise secured, the head of the holder placed in the mouth with that portion of the floss between arms c between two teeth, and the holder manipulated in a man: ner to cause the floss stretched between the arms to be reciprocated between the teeth. By this movement the sides of the teeth will be thoroughly cleansed, and owing to the fact that the stretched length of the floss is entirely beyond the ends of the arms there is little or no liability of injuring the gums by the arms 0 or lugs a coming in contact there with. The bending of the head of the holder at substantially a right angle to the body facilitates the entrance of the floss between the teeth, for the reason that the teeth of the opposite jaw may be pressed against the under surface of the body of the holder at the base of the head to force the floss between the teeth.

The whole device can be made at a minimum cost, and its simplicity, durability, and efflciency will be obvious from the foregoing description.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A dental floss-holder comprising a main body or handle, and a head at one end thereof at substantially a right angle thereto, said head comprising two opposite arms having inwardly-projecting lugs turned outward to positions parallel with the arms, forming grooves or spaces between the lugs and arms, and terminating at the outer end of the arms, substantially as described.

2. A dental floss-holder comprising a main body or handle having downwardly and inwardly curved flanges along its edges to form a guide for the thread of floss, a head at one end of the body at substantially right angles thereto comprising two opposite arms in the same plane, and inwardly-projecting lugs on the arms bent back to positions parallel therewith and forming grooves or spaces for guiding the floss, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM G. CORYELL.

\Vitnesses:

H. M. KAERCHER, KATHRYN A. WILLIAMs. 

